[thedude113]

Gents-

I'm adjusting my valves for the first time. After plenty of research, I've gone down the backside method path. I like the method, but I am having trouble when I double check my work.

My first issue was with tightening the nut and messing up the screw adjustment. First I tried leaving it a little loose and letting the final tighten on the nut close the gap a little more, but that worked like throwing darts at a board blindfolded. The difference between good and too tight seems to be about the thickness of the end of the slot on the screw. I had the best luck when I adjusted the screw with the .0025 gauge in until the gauge would barely pull out, then I held the screw in place with a stubby screwdriver (clamped with a vise grip for some leverage) while I tightened it with the box end of a wrench. The adjstment would back off a hair while tightening and the .0025 gauge would come out easier, while the .003 gauge wouldn't fit. Does anyone have a better way to do this?

Next, I figured out that keeping the feeler gauges oiled up helps them slide in more consistently. Initially I would adjust the intake valve, then do the exhaust, and when I re-checked the intake it would be too tight. There is no way that adjusting one should affect the other one, right? In the beginning, I wasn't oiling up the feeler gauge. At these tiny tolerance, the friction from dry metal on dry metal is enough to make a difference wrt Go/ No Go.

Once I got a complete side finished (240 deg rotations), I went back and double checked all of them. Almost everytime, there would be at least one that needed re-adjusting. It usually needed to be tightened. Why would they change when I came back to them? Was it too loose to begin with, but I'm not realizing it until I re-check it? Or am I not lining up the tick marks exactly and consistently? I have actually checked every valve at least 8 times now. Time is not a factor, so I want to make sure everything is perfect before I button it up. Any recommendations?